Princess Bus From Seattle to Vancouver

[RS79]

My wife and I are taking the Princess bus from Seattle airport to the Vancouver port for our Alaska cruise this Monday (18th). Has anyone taken this bus before? We have been given an 11:00am departure time, but I am not sure if there is an earlier bus. Also, I was wondering how early I should show up for it. Any advice? Thanks.

[fun and breezes 2]

I just talked to a Princess rep this morning about this exact question. I will tell you what I was told:

They have several buses and the last bus leaves Seattle at 11 AM and the trip takes approximately 4 hours. With the cruise departing at 4PM everyone needs to be on board the ship by 3PM , so the latest the bus can leave is 11AM. They will have several buses to transport everyone so each bus will leave as it fills. The person I spoke with said he would arrive around 9:30, and hope to get on a bus that left earlier than 11AM. I have never taken this transfer, but I have taken shorter ones, and the process seems similar.

 

I'd recommend you should call and ask Princess about this. You may get a little better information since you actually have a transfer booked.

[Coracii]

Originally I had looked into the Princess transfer and when I didn't like the time frame, I rented a car to travel from Seattle to Vancouver. Then, on a whim, I looked at flights from Sea-Tac to Vancouver and decided to book a 48 minute flight leaving early in the morning that ended up costing only a few dollars more than the transfer and about the same as the rental car. Sure, I'll have taxi fare from the airport to Canada Place but that little price difference was worth it to me. Luckily, rental cars can be cancelled easily...

[kruisey]

My wife and I are taking the Princess bus from Seattle airport to the Vancouver port for our Alaska cruise this Monday (18th). Has anyone taken this bus before? We have been given an 11:00am departure time, but I am not sure if there is an earlier bus. Also, I was wondering how early I should show up for it. Any advice? Thanks.

This is statutory holiday weekend in Canada.There was a three hour lineup

at the border into the USA yesterday.They will all be returning Monday the

18th. Maybe the border might give Princess priority I don't know.

Alot of folks don't even bother to go down because of the long lineups.

Three hours to get to Bellingham stuck at the border and 3 hours to get back just to do grocery and shopping.:eek:

I know security must be done but it has lost alot of local shopping on both sides due to this.

[kylea_s]

We did the transfer about two weeks ago for the four day Golden mini Alaska escape. It leaves Sea Tac from the 00 section of baggage claim. There are chairs and tables to sit as you wait. Although we had some major issues hopefully Princess has those settled. The customs stop at the border is made easier if your in a bus. They have a separate line for buses. Just one bus in front of us that day. Luggage went straight from the bus onto the ship. No need to claim it as we got in line for embarkation. They did not have anything shorter set up for Platinum Elite members which we were hoping for after the long bus ride. Hope that answers your questions.

[pgh-pam]

I saw that you just did the Sea-Tac to Vancouver transfer. After having booked our trip, I discovered that there is an issue with my BF's DUI (although it is over 5 years ago, we do not have the ability to apply for Canadian rehabiliation as that takes close to a year). Princess informed me that there is no customs at the pier at embarkation but that the bus goes through customs. Can you let me know how indepth the customs people were when you went through? Thanks!!

[kylea_s]

Pgh Pam, to the best of our recollection, there is no question on the customs form about any sort of conviction. They are more interested in what sort of stuff you might be bringing into Canada and how much cash. We filled out a one page form answering those about 10 or so questions and including our address and passport info. At Customs the bus driver collected the forms, took them into the agent. The agent came out into the bus and questioned a few people who hadnt answered all the questions on the paper. I think they just thought they could draw a line through the no's rather than check each one. Then let the bus go through. If BF isnt going to drive there, I think thats all that would be done.

 

Hope that helps.

Donna

[pgh-pam]

I had not heard about the DUI being an issue so was getting a bit nervous after reading some of the posts of people's issues (not being permitted into Canada) when they flew into Vancouver. The only options we have are to take a shot and go for it and hope there is nothing that flags them to look at him or cancel the cruise part and lose all of our monies. When I went in 2000, the routine was just like you described. Thanks again!!

[kylea_s]

I did a bit more research. That card did have our passport numbers on it and the bus driver was in the customs building a few minutes. Its possible that they were scanned and a search done of any applicable data bases of criminal convictions in that time. Id never heard of the exclusion, but I think after reading that its very real.

 

 

Donna

[kayden]

I had not heard about the DUI being an issue so was getting a bit nervous after reading some of the posts of people's issues (not being permitted into Canada) when they flew into Vancouver. The only options we have are to take a shot and go for it and hope there is nothing that flags them to look at him or cancel the cruise part and lose all of our monies. When I went in 2000, the routine was just like you described. Thanks again!!

 

Please contact your local Canadian consulate or Embassy and inquire about your boyfriend's situation and if they can offer you advice before you decide to travel to Canada.